Lasting Impressions
by thinklikeno0neelse
Summary: Clarissa Teal is a profiler for the FBI and is recognized by the public as a "psychic detective". She is asked by name to consult with the team on a case and is quickly taken to Dr. Spencer Reid who can't seem to figure her out. Can the team deal with Clarissa's strange methods? Is Spencer and Clarissa going to become part of the statistic that suggest opposites do in fact attract?
1. Nice to meet you, Spencer Reid

**Hiya! So I needed a break from vampires and this idea kinda just came to me so I thought I would give it a shot. I love Spencer Reid and I thought making a story with him would be fun but of course I had to have my own little twist with it. So say hello to psychic detective Clarissa Teal! Anyway keep an open mind and enjoy the first chapter, I have more written so if it's well ****received I do have more to offer. **

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><p>Chapter One<p>

"Stay here. I need to speak with them before they meet you." The heavily muscled dark-skinned man turned to his partner with his back to the door.

"Come on Morris, I'm not so scary." The tall dark haired woman laughed.

"You know it's mandatory to brief them if we were going to be working with this team." His deep smooth voice informed her, very matter-a-fact as usual.

"Always the stickler when it comes to protocol." She shook her head slightly but the small smile on her face remained. "Don't scare them too much, alright?"

"They will only know what is necessary."

"Thanks you." She nodded at him and he turned around to knock on the door before disappearing inside.

She was quite nervous, she usually was when she was about to meet a team or police unit she was going to consult with. It's not uncommon for people to react not so kindly to her and they always had a reason or two behind it. But she's good at her job and she always manages to surprise even the most experienced of people. True a methods aren't typical but they get the job done and that was what was important to her. Morris popped his head out after about ten minutes and told her she could come inside now to meet the team. She pulled at her black blazer before taking a deep breath and following him in.

The team was standing around a large table in the center of the room as she walked in. Her piercing green eyes gazed at each person, taking them in so she could get a good idea of what they may be like. They moved from person to person until they landed on a certain young doctor. She turned her head slightly to the side as a smirk slipped over her face.

"Well I'll be," She took a step towards him. "If it isn't the infamous Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Infamous?" His voice broke slightly and he had to clear his throat before continuing. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"We haven't officially met, if that's what you mean." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "However, I've been hearing about you since the day I started at Caltech."

"You went to Caltech?" His eyes rose in surprise.

"Don't look so surprised Dr. I'm smarter than I look." She rose her head confidently and locked eyes with him.

"This isn't the kid that..." Morris spoke up.

"He is." She interrupted him, her eyes briefly meeting his.

The man chuckled shaking his head.

"You were bound to meet sooner or later."

"I'm sorry, is there something we should know?" Agent Hotchner spoke up, asking what everyone in the room wanted to.

"It's nice to see you too, Agent Hotchner." The woman shot him a smile. "No, it's not really a big deal. I'm just realizing what a small world it is. I was getting my degree in Engineering at Caltech, but... that didn't go as planned. I ended up with a Master's degree in Social Science before transferring to get my degrees in Criminal and Forensic Psychology, if any of you were wondering. Anyway, I was often compared to the ever impressive young genius Spencer Reid, who graduated only a couple of years before I did."

"I'm sorry, you were compared to our boy genius here?" A blonde woman wondered, pointing at the doctor who shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, although I'm not as smart as he is. I was quite young to start at Caltech and my professors couldn't help but make comparisons." The woman shrugged.

"How old were you?" Dr. Reid studied the woman before him.

"I was sixteen when I started there. Don't look so impressed." She put her hands up in the air. "I was home schooled until then so I graduated a couple of years ahead of my peers. I was more privileged than smart, I promise you."

"I'll, um, take your word for it. I'm sorry, I, uh, thought you were a Psychic Detective?" He glanced at Morris making the young woman turn her attention to the large man.

"I prefer not to label myself but if I must I prefer Agent now, I did go through the training after all and it creates less expectations when I use that title. Morris just prefers everyone we work with to know what I can bring to the table. I am not conventional by any means and I tend to do things in my own weird way, but I get the job done. It's also why I was asked to assist with the case." She offered her hand to the young doctor, who was closest to her. "My name is Clarissa Teal. It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Spencer Reid."

He didn't move. He just stared at her hand and then looked back at her.

"You don't like shaking hands, do you?" She closed her hand before dropping it back to her side but there was still a curious expression on her face.

"It's not necessarily that. It's nothing personal either. It's just the number of pathogens passed during a handshake is staggering. It's actually safer to kiss." He stuttered, hoping not to offend the pretty psychic detective.

"Well," She took a step closer to him and her delicate hand reached up to grab his tie. "In that case..." She pulled him down and pecked him on the lips before releasing him. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Reid."

The young doctor's expression was one of shock: eyes wide, eyebrows raised, mouth hanging open slightly. He hadn't expected that. He nearly fell backwards in surprise. He silently questioned rather or not this was actually happening. It was possible that this was all a very fantastic dream and if it were he wasn't sure if he wanted to wake up. His mind racing to find the probability that this may actually only be a dream and he would be waking up at any moment when Hotch's voice brought him back to reality.

"Agent Teal, that was inappropriate and that kind of behavior will not be tolerated." Agent Hotchner's voice was raised slightly now.

"Yes, Agent Hotchner, sir!" She took a step back, her eyes still on Spencer. "Although to be fair, kissing is a very common gesture of greeting in many cultures and I was only complying with what the good doctor felt more comfortable with."

"Claire, please behave. I don't want to have to tell your Uncle about this." Morris threatened making the woman pout slightly but she remained quiet.

"Well, I'm Agent Morgan." The handsome black man stepped forward to shake her hand.

"And I'm Penelope Garcia. I like you already." The blonde woman that spoke up earlier was next with a grin on her face.

She grinned at each of them offering a 'nice to meet you' until she learned everyone's names. Each members of the team resisted the urge to pile on the questions they had onto the young woman but they knew it wasn't the time for that.

"It's nice to see you again, Agent Rossi." Clarissa smiled when the man stepped toward her last. "I was hoping I would get to work with you one day."

"It's been a long time." He placed his other hand over hers as he smiled at her. "I'm glad to see you look well."

"Well now that you have all met, it's time to get started with the case." Hotchner stepped to the front of the room and everyone took their seats. "But first, Agent Teal, would you like to share any impressions you may have before we begin?"

"My impressions?" She sat back in her chair and bite her lip. "Are you trying to test me, Agent Hotchner?"

He only stared at her.

"Fine then." She crossed her legs. "I feel this is, first and foremost, a missing person's case. A young woman, mid 20s. White. Short, about 5'3 and red hair, dyed red hair. She's naturally a brunette. She's been missing for about 26 hours and she is believed to be the latest victim of a series of kidnappings in the... the south... I believe, like Texas or Alabama maybe."

"You could have just made all that up." Spencer said before even thinking.

Clarissa smiled tightly at him pulling out her journal from her bag and throwing it on the table in front of him. It was a brightly colored book with comic book characters all over it. Spencer stared at it resisting the smile fighting to take over his face.

"Look at the last entry."

Everyone watched as he carefully opened the book and flipped the pages passed the scribbled notes and pencil sketches until there were no more and then he flipped back to see the last page. It was a pencil sketching of a young woman with little notes written on the picture, describing all that she had just said to them.

"That's your latest victim. I drew it on the way here."

Everyone looked at JJ for confirmation, who simply clicked a button on the remote she was now holding and an image popped up on the screen in front of them. The sketch looked very much like the woman in the picture. Everyone turned their attention back to Clarissa for a moment who simply stared at the picture on the screen, all joking and smiles gone from her face.

"This is Ashley Green, our missing person. She was last seen in her apartment in Brandon, Mississippi." JJ told them.

"Damn..." Clarissa whispered. "I was close."

The briefing took about fifteen minutes.

"We leave in less than an hour. We don't have time to waste." Agent Hotchner said dismissing everyone to gather their things.

"Um, Agent Teal, wait up!" Spencer called to the young woman who paused mid-step. "I hope that I, um, I hope that I didn't insult you."

"It's not a problem, Dr. Reid. I can assure you, I've heard much worse." She put a hand up to stop him. "People have a difficult time accepting me, for many reasons, rather by different preferences in personalities or simply having different opinions on what's possible. I'm used to it by now and I don't mind at all. If you have any questions about what I do or anything at all, feel free to ask away."

"I will, thank you." He murmured as she walked away from him.

"My man." Derek clapped in on the shoulder. "She sure seemed to like you, huh?"

"All say..." Emily mumbled as they watched her fall into step with Morris.

"Did anyone else notice that she's like crazy beautiful?" Penelope shook her head in disbelief.

"Believe me, that did not go unnoticed..." Spencer sighed. "She seems like she's going to be a bit of a hand full thou."

"Little Claire?" Rossi walked up from behind them. "She certainly isn't the typical young woman but considering all that she's been through... I think she turned out pretty good."

"All she's been through?" Derek cocked his head to the side in question.

"You don't know? Well, we all have our stories." Rossi shrugged turning to walk away from them but they followed. "Look it's not my business to tell. If you want to know, ask her how she got into this line of work."

"At least tell us how you know her." JJ spoke up.

"That's not for me to tell either." He sighed knowing that they wouldn't drop it unless he told them something. "Her uncle is the director of the FBI."

"Jack Fickler?" Spencer questioned in disbelief.

"Explains how she got on this case." Derek commented.

"Actually she was requested by name, she has quite the reputation from what I understand." JJ told them.

"She's got a bit of a following ever since... well." Rossi sighed.

"Is that why she's got herself a body guard? We working with someone famous?" Derek joked with a smile.

"Agent Williams, isn't a body guard. He's her partner. He's a weapon's specialist with years of field work experience."

"In other words, a body guard." Derek repeated.

"Look, Clarissa Teal is by no means someone to be underestimated. She was raised in this world. She can handle herself, believe me. But her uncle does require Agent Williams to be with her for our benefit and hers." Rossi looked at each of them for a moment. "I realize you're curious but I'm going to ask you, Garcia, you especially... don't look into her."

"You're usually more fun than this." Penelope mumbled and he walked away.

"That woman is just full of surprises isn't she?" Derek looked at his friends.

"We are clearly missing something." Emily crossed her arms.

"Now that Rossi said something... I can't help but feel like I've seen her before." Spencer mumbled thoughtfully.

"If any of us would know something about her, it would be Reid." Derek sighed. "If she's so well known to be asked for my name, how did we not hear about her sooner?"

"Maybe she's just not something people around here talk about." JJ shrugged.

"I hate not knowing!" Penelope whined. "Can't I just do one little search?"

"Rossi asked you specifically not to look into her." Spencer pointed out and everyone turned to stare at him. "Hey, I'm just as curious as the rest of you but maybe this is something we should worry about later? We _are_ leaving soon..."

"Alright fine, boy wonder. We'll leave your girlfriend alone... for now." Derek laughed and walked away to gather his things leaving everyone else to do the same.

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><p>"Hey there handsome, you saving a seat for someone?"<p>

Spencer snapped out of his thoughts and turned to face the woman speaking to him. She was alone, he noticed. Morris wasn't with her at the moment and he was the first on the plane. He wanted to take the time to think about the case but his mind kept wandering to a certain person. And now, suddenly, here she is. He found himself wondering if she were able to somehow know what he was thinking, that he was thinking about her just then but he quickly dismissed the thought.

"No, I, no I'm not saving anyone a seat." He shook his head, straightening in his seat as she sat down next to him.

She placed her bag next to her and flipped her hair over her shoulder before looking at him again. As the scent of her shampoo washed over him Spencer couldn't help but notice a small scar on her left cheek. It was barely there, he hadn't noticed it before but now that he was getting to really look at her with her so close, he could see it pretty clearly. His eyes darted quickly over her face searching for any other imperfections but he found none.

"You know, I've gotta say... I always heard about how smart you are. No one ever mentioned you were handsome." She grinned at him, making color flush to his face.

Before he could rattle his brain for a response, the others piled onto the plane. Derek and JJ took their seats across from them. Emily, Hotchner, and Rossi sat on the couch to their right. While Morris sat in a chair by himself but kept Clarissa in his sight.

The team made casual conversation as the plane took off.

"So have you had these psychic abilities all your life?" Derek asked her, everyone quieted to listen to her response.

"No, I haven't." She shook her head.

"Well then, how do you think you got them?" JJ frowned.

"Well, I didn't have them before I died. So if I had to guess... I would say it had something to do with that. But I'm honestly not sure." She shrugged.

"You died?" Spencer breathed out, leaning towards her. "You know, that's not entirely uncommon. Many people claim to develop metaphysical abilities after near death experiences."

"It wasn't a near death experience. I died." She turned her head to face him directly. "I was dead for four minutes before being revived."

"Is that when you decided you didn't want to be an engineer anymore?" Spencer swallowed nervously as she stared at him.

"It's not the when but the why. It's why I didn't want to be an engineer anymore." She looked to Rossi who was watching her carefully along with everyone else. "You didn't tell them?"

"It's not my story to tell."

"And they don't dig like the others?" She raised an eyebrow. "How refreshing..."

"Let's talk more about the case." Hotcher spoke up, clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation was going.

"It appears that he's disorganized given the randomness of his kidnappings. Each woman is different in appearance, they are all taken at no particular time of day, and he is killing them in different manners." Spencer spoke first.

"I don't know..." Clarissa mumbled, pulling out the notes that she took during the briefing from her bag. "Something about it... I feel like it... I don't know how to explain it but I feel like there is a purpose for these killings. To him, at least."

"Him?"

"Yeah. White male, young... I'm thinking early 20s. And tall, in shape. And he's celebrated for it, if that even makes sense." She answered, not looking up from the papers on her lap.

"Are you speaking as a psychic or a profiler?" Hotchner questioned her.

"A bit of both, I suppose."

"Young? Celebrated? That doesn't fit the profile at all." Derek shook his head.

"I realize that." She glanced up at him. "We must be missing something. You said there was no sexual abuse of any kind, right?"

"None in the report." JJ confirmed.

"If not for sexual reasons, why? Why kidnap a woman close to your age, keep them for days, and then kill them by cutting out their heart?" She held up the picture of the first victim. "No signs of torture on the body, other than the cause of death. Can the death mean that much to him?"

"It depends on the person. Sometimes yes. Sometimes having control of rather the person lives or dies is the most important thing to an Unsub." Hotchner answered her this time.

"Not this one." She shook her head. "I don't think this is about control. He closes their eyes after that suggests remorse."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't enjoy the killing. He may just feel guilty afterward." Derek argued.

"You may be right." Clarissa mused. "So we have an Unsub that takes women from their homes when they are alone, meaning he knows them enough to know where they live and their schedule. Does he stalk them first maybe?"

"Possibly. Serial killers often stalk their victims while they formulate a plan." Spencer commented. "Although that would suggest he isn't disorganized."

"He holds them for about three days, not harming them at all, even clothing and feeding them." Hotchner added.

"Wait, he clothes them?" Clarissa paused. "In what?"

"Gowns." He handed her photos from the dump sights.

"Expensive looking gowns." She stared at the picture. "He's celebrating them first, honoring them even... Odd. Did they have anything in common? Friends, occupation, anything?"

"Not that we know of." JJ shook her head.

"Ripped out heart, drowned in a lake, decapitated..." Clarissa mumbled to herself.

"Maybe we should take a break... we land in forty five minutes. Everyone get some rest while you can." Hotchner suggested.

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><p>Everyone got quiet, mumbling to one another or drifting off to nap. Clarissa continued flipping through the photos. Spencer watched her out of the corner of his eye as she sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead as if it ached. She closed her eyes every now and then as if she were in pain.<p>

"You can take a break, you know." Spencer whispered to her, making her look up at him.

"I heard him, it's just once I get into an investigation it's hard for me to let it go until I have all the answers." She put the pictures back into the folder and closed it.

"What if a case you work on is never solved?" He wondered, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Having the answers and solving the case is not the same." She shook her head. "I've learned that the hard way, some cases can't be proved."

"So you don't care if you can prove a case?"

"Of course I care!" Clarissa chuckled lightly, the sound sending chills through Spencer's body down to his bones. "Proving it is always the main goal. However if a case does go cold... I do feel better knowing that someone knows the truth about about happened, even if it's just me."

"You are a strange person." Spencer shook his head and shut his eyes mentally screaming at himself for saying something so stupid. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to insult you. It's just I've never met anyone like you before and, well, I'm never very good with social interactions as it is, and..."

"That's alright. I don't mind." Clarissa laughed and Spencer couldn't help but smile this time. "As far as social interactions, I'd say you've been handling yourself quite well. Most people are intimated by me."

"I can't imagine why..." Spencer mumbled, his mind wandering to the kiss that happened just a few hours ago and he wondered if she would always greet him that way. He wasn't sure how he would feel about that but he did find his eyes drifting down to glance at her lips when she started speaking again.

"So tell me about yourself."

"Me? Um, well, what do you want know?" His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"Hm... well, anything really. Oh! How about we play twenty questions, that's always a fun way to get to know someone and it takes the nerves off a bit. I haven't played it since I was a kid but..."

"Twenty questions?"

"Yeah. I ask you a question and once you answer, you get to ask me a question. You only get ten questions each thou, so we have to make them count." She explained with a smile.

"Um, alright, you start."

"Hmmm," She bit her lip as she studied him for a moment making him blush slightly as all her attention was on him. "Who's your most favorite person in the world?"

"My mother." He kept his answer simple and followed with his own question. "What's your favorite book?"

"That's a hard one... I think I would say... The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne." She answered. "If you could be a fictional character... who would you be?"

"The Doctor." He answered and Clarissa let out a laugh before quieting down again.

"That's perfect. You would be the perfect Doctor, Dr." She said once she stopped laughing.

"You watch Doctor Who?" He smiled slightly at her.

"Why, of course." She answered in a terribly fake British accent. "But I'm afraid that counts as a question."

Spencer opened his mouth to object but couldn't find the words so he remained quiet as she thought of her next question.

"What do you do to pass the time?"

"Read mostly or I'll play chess or card games. I'm also quite good at magic tricks." He shared instantly second guessing if he should have shared that.

"You'll have to show me sometime." She smiled genuinely at him, making his mind go blank. "Your turn, Spencer."

She used his first name only this time. The sound of her saying it felt so nice, different than how it felt when others were to say it. She said it with such care and purpose. It felt nice to be the center of her attention but it also scared the crap out of him too. But she was waiting for him to ask a question. It was a very inconvenient time for his brain not to work.

"Um, what do you do to pass the time?"

"Copy cat." She teased. "Okay... I read as well, and I write a lot... songs and stories, I sing too. Um... what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I'm already grown up." He smiled to himself as she giggled at him. "I'm an FBI agent. I'm already what I wanted to be."

"Well... yeah. But this isn't all you want to be, is it?" She tilted her head questioningly.

"Um, well, that also counts as a question." He laughed when she made a face at him. "I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose I would like to write a book someday."

"A book of your thoughts... sounds like a best seller to me."

"Are you, uh, are you flirting with me?"

"You know this counts as a question..." She pointed out to him with a smirk on her face and he just waited for a response. "Alright, I suppose I am. Are you alright with that?"

"I, um, well, I guess it depends on why you are flirting with me. Why are you flirting with me?" He seemed afraid of what the response may be.

"I guess because I like you." She looked away from him for a moment as if she were almost embarrassed to admit it, but Spencer doubted she got embarrassed easy, and she looked around to see everyone was either sleeping or not paying attention to them. "You are going to tell on me?"

"Wha, uh, no. No. I think I can live with no one knowing. Do you not want anyone to know?" He wondered, feeling a sense of dread build up in his chest.

"Haha. I'm fine with people knowing. I just don't want to get kicked off the case for bad behavior, alright? I don't know if you've notice but I don't think Agent Hotchner is my biggest fan."

"You may have a point." Spencer pressed his lips together as thought to himself. "Does that mean you're going to stop?"

"The flirting? Probably not, unless you wanted me to. Did you want me to, stop that is?"

"No." He shook his head slowly back and forth. "No, I don't think I would like that."

She smiled at him again making his stomach do flips. His heart hammering in his chest as he considered his next question.

"Another question, um, why did you kiss me?"

"I already told you handsome! I like you." She leaned closer to him as she looked him in the eyes. "Did you want to do it again?"

He almost backed away from her then. Her being so close took him by surprise but he managed to resist and stayed as he was. He was quite proud of himself for that. But he found he couldn't answer the question.

"You," He laughed nervously. "You're flirting again."

"I'm out of questions, by my count. You've got two more, Dr. Use them wisely." She whispered with a playful glint in her eyes.

"What makes you think you like me?"

"I, well that's an interesting question," She thought for a moment which made him more nervous to hear what she had to say. "I don't know, Dr. Reid. There's just something about you. I like the smart, shy guys. I guess you could say I have a type. Last question..."

Spencer thought for a moment. Knowing this was his last question, he knew it had to be a good one. There was a question he was dying to ask her but he didn't want to push her about it.

"Alright, last question... why did you change your mind about becoming an engineer? It's incredibly competitive to get into Caltech, they only have a 12.8% acceptance rate. You must have been serious about it to have joined the program and clearly you showed promise for you to have been compared to me, not that I'm saying that it's a big honor to be compared to me or anything, what I mean to say is, something big must have happened for you to have changed your mind."

"You already know the answer to that one too. I died during my freshmen year. I was... different after that. Everything changed for me." Her expression changed.

"How did you die?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Sorry, you're all out of questions." She shot him a sad smile before standing up and walking over to talk to Morris.

"I said something wrong didn't I?" Spencer asked himself under his breath.

"No, kid. You did pretty good. Its probably just not something she likes to talk about." Derek opened his eyes to look at him.

"How long have you been awake?"

"For awhile." Derek chuckled as Spencer blushed. "Don't worry I won't tell Hotch about any of that. And I know your not asking but if you ask me... you should go for it. She's a hottie."

"I think that's the problem. Women like her tend to stay away from me. I can't figure her out."

"Something Spencer Reid can't figure out? I never thought I'd see the day." Derek joked making Spencer roll his eyes.

"I don't know everything, you know." He muttered and looked out the window.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride, kid." Derek grinned at him, folding his hands across his chest. "By the looks of it, she'll take you on a crazy one if you let her."

Spencer simply glared at his friend who chuckled at him. Everyone began to wake up and the plane landed only about ten minutes later.

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><p><strong>If you liked it and want to read more, please review! Reviews motivate me and let me know if I should continue with a story. Thanks for reading! <strong>


	2. Unusual Methods, Part 1

**So I got a review from a guest that seemed a little confused so I thought I would add another chapter so everyone could maybe get a better idea of how the story is going to go and what my character's are like. Also I am in college so I will have a hard time updating because I don't have much time to write for fun. I'm also going to clarify some things that were questioned, things that will be addressed as the story naturally progresses. Those of you that prefer to read naturally just skip the next paragraph as this is for people that need a little bio in the beginning of the story.**

**So first and foremost, Clarissa certainly isn't a genius. She does however have a couple of degrees and there is a story behind it. Basically she was home schooled and graduated early, got her degree and then she went to another school and was part of what's called a dual degree program to get the last two degrees in one shot, which wouldn't have taken as long because she already had a degree. So she spent about 2-2.5 years more than most in college which would make her about 24 when she finished. This will all be explained later, of course. She has only been working for the FBI about two years so that would make her about 26 now. It should also be noted that to be in the FBI and a profiler, you have to be smart but she's more of a hard worker or an over achiever. Also, she wears a suit, it's said in the story that she pulls at a blazer and it should be assumed she dressed like any other woman in the FBI.**

**That is all. If you have any other questions or concerns, just let me know. Thanks for reading!**

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><p>Chapter Two<p>

"Hello you must be Agent Hotchner. I'm Alice James, the police chief. Glad you could make it." A middle aged blonde woman shook Hotchner's hand as he led the team into the police station. "And you are Clarissa Teal, I recognize you from when you were on the news talking about a case in Miami. Thanks for coming."

"I would like to say that I'm glad to be here but given the circumstances I'm afraid I can't." Clarissa shook her hand.

"I understand, right this way."

Clarissa, Morris, and the team followed her through the police department. The woman was rattling off information to them as they walked but the team found themselves distracted by the looks they were getting from the police officers. It felt different from the usual looks they would get somehow, the looks were more curious than angry and they were followed by some whispering. They were led into a small office that was nearly emptied for their arrival.

"This goes without saying but it's probably best that no attention is brought to my being here. We don't know what kind of Unsub we are dealing with yet and we don't know how the Unsub will react to a psychic being involved in the investigation. The press can't know because they will just get in the way. So I would appreciate it if I weren't spoken of, until further notice pretend I'm not even here." Clarissa said to the police chief but loud enough that the entire team could hear.

"Yes, of course." Alice nodded at her. "I will have all the files we have on the case brought in to you, the space is all yours."

"Thank you." Clarissa smiled at the woman who then turned to leave.

"Are you that well known that you would be recognized or even bring risk to the investigation?" JJ asked her as soon as the woman left.

"This isn't my first case, there should be no problems. I know how to lay low. I was more worried about word of mouth." Clarissa sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have said something earlier."

"Actually Morris briefed us on the possibility of you being recognized. You have no need to apologize to us. I think we are all just beginning to understand who well known you are. I'm a bit embarrassed that I had never heard of you before this." Spencer shifted back on his heels, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Don't be. It's nice." Clarissa said just as an two officers came in carrying the files.

"Okay. Derek, Rossi, you are going to go with Clarissa to the latest victims apartment. See what you can pick up there. Emily and I will begin at the dump sight. Reid start trying to figure out what the Unsub's comfort zone is." Hotchner quickly gave his orders and everyone went off.

Clarissa carefully put her hair up in a tight bun and put dark sunglasses on her face before heading to the first victim's apartment with Morris following close behind.

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><p>"So how does it work with you out in the field?" Derek asked as he drove the black SUV.<p>

"Morris should be able to handle anything that happens with me. You shouldn't have to worry about anything." Clarissa placed a hand on Morris's arm and smiled at her friend.

"What's that mean?" Derek frowned.

"Well... it's hard to say how things will go. I react differently with each case, each place, each person... even I can't predict it." She chuckled lightly at her own joke while the others just smiled slightly at her. "I will do my best not to distract you but I may need you to be patient with me."

"Alright pretty lady, I think we can manage that." Derek winked at her as they met eyes through the rear view mirror.

"So Morris how is it working with Clarissa?" Rossi asked, trying to make conversation with her quiet companion.

"I feel honored to be working with her. She has been given a wonderful gift." Morris told him.

"It's incredible the cases we have been able to help solve together. I don't know what I would do if he weren't with me." Clarissa added. "He's quiet a first but he opens up with time."

"They aren't suppose to know that." Morris joked lowly making everyone laugh.

"Okay here we are..." Derek announced as they approached the apartment building.

* * *

><p>They all piled out of the SUV and headed into the apartments. A cop led them inside the apartment and started explaining all the things they have already found. Clarissa slowly put her left hand up as if to stop the man from speaking. He paused and looked at her questioningly.<p>

"Does anyone else smell that?" She wondered, looking around.

"She did smoke..." The officer offered.

"No." Clarissa shook her head dismissively. "It's sweet... it's almost like..."

Suddenly her shoulders were relaxing and her eyes were drooping. Morris quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and placed his palm on her forehead as her knees gave out leaving him to hold her up. Derek, Rossi, and the officer were left staring speechless for the moment.

"This happens sometimes." Morris told them, urging them to continue with what they were doing.

She wasn't unconscious long. In a couple of minutes she was slowly opening her eyes again and Derek found myself wondering if she were just acting. Her eyes appeared heavy like she had just woken up and Morris helped steady her before asking her what happened.

"It smelled like chloroform... it was faint at first but then it was overwhelming. It was so strong." She wrinkled her nose and shivered.

"Chloroform?" Rossi repeated.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked her, watching her reactions closely to try to get a good read on her.

"She's never been wrong before." Morris answered for her this time.

"She was carried out of this home." Clarissa looked around the room.

"No sign of a struggle?" Derek looked at the officer who was staring at Clarissa now.

"No, none." The officer shook his head.

"She was carried out and... and brought somewhere where she couldn't see or move." She continued, pacing the house slightly as she spoke.

"How does she know that?" The officer looked at Morris like the woman was crazy.

"Is she alive?" Morris ignored the man's questions.

"I," Clarissa paused and looked at her hands for a moment. "Yes, he kills them around the same time of day. She has until tomorrow."

"Does she know that, the victim I mean?" Morris wondered.

She looked at him then with a lost pained expression. She nodded slowly. Morris's face scrunched unhappily and he gently approached her to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm alright." She assured him. "I'm fine."

"What time does he plan on killing her?" Derek asked not sure if he would even believe the answer she would give.

"When the sun is highest in the sky." She moved from the living room to the kitchen. "I don't think anything in here is going to help us but you should probably look anyway."

"Yeah... I'm going to head upsides to her bedroom." Derek announced, leaving the room.

"Why won't it help?" The officer asked her.

"I already know the victim as best as we can. I would know if there is anything else to learn about her that would be helpful." She stated simply before turning to Rossi and asking for him to call Hotchner so she may speak with him. "We need to know the Unsub now."

He did.

"Hey Hotch, Clarissa wants to speak with you." Rossi said as soon as he answered the phone. "Yeah. If it's true, it changed things. We should keep an open mind. So we have two profiles if we have to." He nodded before handing her the phone.

"Agent Hotchner, I believe the Unsub is using chloroform and keeping them somewhere until he can kill them after three days at a specific time of day." She informed him.

"That doesn't fit the profile."

"I realize that our profile would say he is a disorganized Unsub who simply takes the woman as crime of opportunity." She sighed. "But you can't deny that he is keeping them for exactly three days time... we have until tomorrow when the sun is at it's highest in the sky."

"You believe he is killing them during the day?"

"And out in the open. I believe the sun is significant to him during the killing." She nodded her head although he couldn't see. "Does the dump sight show any signs that may suggest he kills them there?"

"No." Hotchner sighed. "Nothing."

"There must be a kill sight then, under the sun."

"We will keep that in mind. Call me if you get anything else." He said and hung up.

"He's a gem, really." Clarissa mutter sarcastically and handed Rossi's phone back to him.

"He just needs some time..." Rossi tried to say.

"We don't have time." Clarissa ran her over her chest as if it were aching.

"She was right..." Derek came back down the stairs. "There isn't much here."

"It's weird..." Clarissa nodded thoughtfully. "It's almost like she just moved here but I haven't seen any boxes."

"There were some boxes in her closet upstairs." Derek offered.

"Did she just move here?" Clarissa looked to the officer who looked thoroughly confused at this point but he shook his head.

"Not exactly. She's been staying here since her sophomore year. She just got back from summer break." The officer explained.

"What about the other victims?" Clarissa wondered. "Did they go to the same college as her?"

"Yeah but we didn't think that was related because the first killing happened during summer vacation. We thought... maybe it was just because they were all similar in age. That's all." The man shrugged, looking back and forth at every one of the Agents.

"Can you call Penelope and ask if they all went away for summer break, maybe they vacationed in the same area, or if they have anything else in common with one another, other than school? I'm talking clubs, classes, majors... anything where the Unsub might know them from." Clarissa asked Derek who begin dialing right away. "There's got to be something here that we're missing..."

"Hey baby girl, I need you to check something for me..." Derek flirted with a smile on his face. "I need you to check if any of the victims have anything in common at the college they go too."

There was a pause.

"What about professors? Any of the same professors?" Derek pressed. "Alright, that's alright. It's something. Keep looking and let me know if you find anything."

"Well?" Clarissa stared at him trying to keep from biting her nails, it was a habit she was trying to break because it made her look more like a child than she already did.

"Same major, Anthropology. Unfortunately, they had a lot of the same professors so we are at a dead end for now." Derek put his phone away. "Let's head back."

* * *

><p>"Hey handsome, any luck?" Clarissa placed her hands on the back of Spencer's chair and leaned over his shoulder so she could see what he was working on.<p>

"Hey, um, not exactly..." He stammered, glanced at her noticing how close her face was to his and he found he strange tingle going down his neck. "We don't have many locations to consider..."

"Have you included the college?" She wondered.

"What?"

"All the victims go to the same college." She pointed on the map. "This right here must be it."

"So we have all the victims places... the college and the dump sight." She said out loud to herself staring at the map. "Where he's keeping her... it must be within this perimeter and close to the dump sight, right?"

"That's the idea. Yes." He nodded, noticing how sweet she smelled but he couldn't place the scent. Peaches? No. Lavender? No.

"Dr. Reid, are you hearing anything I'm saying?" Clarissa walked around him and took at seat on the table in front of him.

"Yes, I, I mean, no," He shook his head, blushing. "I'm sorry. I was thinking."

"That's alright." She giggled at him. "Although I have to ask... am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Uh, I wouldn't say uncomfortable, more, maybe nervous, then anything..." He answered, wanting to look away from the woman but he found himself unable to with her intense gaze on him.

"I should probably leave then. I don't want to distract you from the case." She said suddenly standing up. "Oh and you should know... about where he kills them. It's somewhere he can be under direct sunlight. Maybe you can find a place like that, possibly near the dump sight?"

* * *

><p>"Clarissa, there you are..." Emily walked up to her as she left the room. "Hotchner was thinking maybe you should visit the dump sight, see if you pick up on anything."<p>

"He doesn't believe in what I do. He's just doing as he's told." Clarissa clenched her jaw. "But I appreciate him trying to respect me, it's more than most would do."

"So are you up to it?" Emily watched her consider it.

"Well since that isn't where he kills them... I should be alright. But Morris should be there just in case." She bit her lip.

"I heard you passed out at the victim's apartment. Are you alright?"

"You passed out at the victim's apartment?" JJ asked as she walked up.

"Yes," Clarissa nodded. "It's nothing to worry about."

"I believe that's what Morris was just trying to explain to Hotch." JJ pointed behind her with just her thumb. "Hotch didn't seem so sure."

"I experienced the kidnapping not the murder." Clarissa closed her eyes in frustration. "Believe me, it could have been worse."

"Are you saying that you've experienced someone's murder before?" Spencer asked now standing in the doorway.

Clarissa opened her eyes and simply nodded at him. Spencer found himself wondering, if that were possible, what that would be like. And if it were possible, why would anyone in their right mind choose to contentiously experience them? He has wondered many times why someone would choose the job he has but Clarissa Teal took the job to a whole other level. He found himself wanting to believe her, to believe what she said was true, probably because she seemed to truly believe it herself.

"I've been through multiple psychiatric evaluations. I went through counseling for years after I died and sharing what the experience gave me. I can assure you with confidence, I am not crazy. But if it comforts any of you, I am monitored very carefully and I have to report to a professional after every case I work on." Clarissa said all of this, not once looking away from Spencer's face. "I am going to find Morris so we can head to the dump sight. I don't want to waste anymore time."

Spencer stared after her as she left him standing with his two companions.

"Can you imagine experiencing the murders of the victims?" JJ shuttered. "If she's not crazy, she's cursed."

"Crazy or cursed, she's apparently good at her job. The police chief told Hotch that she asked for her personally because she heard that she has found answers for every case. She doesn't guarantee the Unsub or even a guilty verdict but she offers answers to the families. Although I've gotta say I get more and more curious about her near death experience every time someone brings it up." Emily looked to the Dr. who seemed dazed. "What do you think of her, Spencer?"

"I, I don't know what to think of her..." He ducked his head to avoid eye contact. "I'm going to get back to work."

* * *

><p>"Hey kid, how's it goin?" Derek walked into the office space.<p>

"Clarissa said she thinks the kill sight is an open area with a lot of sun... but where no one will see or hear him commit the murder." Spencer told him. "I've narrowed it down to a few possibilities. But I don't know if Hotch wants me concentrating any of my time on this... it's just, it was something to go on. You know?"

"Yeah I get. Believe me, I saw her work out there in the field today."

"And?"

"It's hard to question her. She's so sure of herself. The only way to know for sure is to wait to see if she was right." He shrugged.

Spencer nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Clarissa's voice was heard moving loudly through the police station.

"Spencer!" She shouted. "Spencer, they are rituals!"

"What?" Spencer stood up as she ran into the room.

"Rituals. Ripping out the heart, decapitation, drowning..." She listed off. "And he throws their body down the stairs. If he takes the heart he burns it in a bowl! It's rituals, ones I've read about, but I can't remember what kind..."

"He throws their bodies down stairs and burns their hearts?" Spencer asked and she nodded waving her hands as if she were hot. "That sounds like Aztec human sacrifices, they would often rip out hearts and burn them in honor of their gods, mainly Huitzilopochtli, who was their deity of war, sun, human sacrifice and the patron of the city of Tenochtitan."

"Aztec!" She jumped up in excitement. "Brilliant Spencer you're absolutely brilliant! I'm going to tell Hotch, I think we've got a profile!"

And just as quickly as she came, she was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Review if you enjoyed it or even if you didn't I suppose. Thanks for reading! <strong>


	3. Unusual Methods, Part 2

**So this chapter is a little strange, working the psychic thing is a little weird but hopefully I made it work. Please review! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

"We are looking for a young white male, in his 20s to early 30s. He's strong in stature but is either injured or lacks confidence in himself. We believe he either attends the victim's college or even is part of the faculty. He may appear smart and organized, however he will be strangely interested in ancient cultures, namely the Aztecs." Hotch said now standing in a room full of police officers.

"He more than likely believes that he needs to sacrifice his victims to appease to the sun god, Huitzilopochtli. This may be for multiple reasons, rather to simply feed the god so the god may protect the city or he may believe he will get something in return." Spencer added.

"You're saying that we are looking for a crazy person that is sacrificing people to an ancient sun god?" A cop spoke up, making the other cops mumble among themselves.

"That's exactly what we are saying." Hotch confirmed with a curt nod.

"And what makes you say that? Some crazy woman who believes she talks to the dead?" The same cop asked pointing to Clarissa who didn't even blink at the outburst.

"The profile was built based on many things, including the crime scenes and the manner of the killings. I would appreciate it if you would have enough respect to not call anyone on my team crazy, especially one that was asked to be here personally." Hotch snapped at the man with the same coolness he spoke with earlier.

When the briefing was over, Clarissa quickly left the room with Morris trailing behind her. Hotch ordered everyone to get back to work and went to find out what Clarissa was doing. She was staring at the map in the office space. Spencer stood in the doorway too nervous to say anything that may upset her. Morris leaned against the wall watching her. She stood in front of the table, hands placed in front of the map as she leaned close to it.

"It has to be here." She mumbled to herself, squinting her eyes in concentration. "Where is it?"

"What is she looking for?" Hotch whispered to Spencer.

"Where the killing actually takes place, she says its separate from the Unsub's home." Spencer answered, pressing his knuckles against his lips. "I've only been able to narrow it down to seven possibilities."

"Well she's probably right." Hotch mused.

"I am right." Clarissa didn't move from where she was. "I can also hear you."

"Sorry..." Spencer glanced at Hotch who simply stared at the woman's back.

"Can Penelope search places that are close by that get a lot of sun but don't get a lot of traffic? It may be elevated as well." She wondered out loud.

"Elevated?" Hotch tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah. Higher. Closer to the sun." She nodded her head.

"Like a hill?" Spencer offered.

"Yes, a hill. Thank you." She turned to them. "We need a hill, far from people, that gets a lot of sun, so no trees. Maybe with something like stairs near by? Can she find that?"

"Is it within the comfort zone?" Hotch asked, pulling out his phone.

"I thought it was... but now I'm not sure."

Hotch nodded and called Garcia. They waited in silence until he hung up.

"She narrowed it down to three possibilities." He informed her.

"Should we check them out now or wait?" Her face was so blank of emotion it was unnerving.

"You mean wait for the Unsub? To catch him in the act?" Spencer questioned her.

"We have a time of day that fits the profile." She gave him a pointed look. "And now we have three possible locations he will bring her to. What do you suggest we do?"

"She's right. We can only wait until it's closer to the time of the kill to catch him. Until then we keep working, try to figure out where the Unsub lives." Hotch told them, leaving the room to tell the others. "Maybe we can catch him before then."

* * *

><p>*A few hours later*<p>

"What is she doing?" Hotch stepped into the office to see Clarissa sitting Indian style on the table with her shoes off.

"She's mediating." Morris answered with his hand on his chin.

"She's been mediating for almost an hour." Spencer added from his seat in front of the map that happened to be right in front of Clarissa.

"And why is she doing this?" Hotch looked confused.

"She's trying to make a connection with the victim." Spencer answered like it was a completely normal thing.

"I think she has." Morris looked up Clarissa's face that was completely relaxed and her eyes were closed.

"What does that mean for us?" Hotch wondered.

"If I'm right..." Morris sighed. "She'll only open her eyes when the victim wakes up and when she does, well, let's just say she won't be seeing us anymore."

"Why would she do that?" Hotch seemed confused.

"She'll be able to tell you what she sees, which is what our victim Ashley sees. She may be able to describe the Unsub, where she's being held, any number of things." Morris spelled out for him patiently.

"Has she done this before?"

"Of course." Morris smiled slightly. "She's able to do amazing things."

"You really believe she's psychic, don't you?" Spencer's voice was low and curious.

"I've seen her predict things, do things, I never thought possible. I understand your hesitation to believe in what she does. I didn't believe it at first. I've been her partner for almost a year now and she amazes me every day. After witnessing enough... you can't deny it anymore." Morris looked admiringly at Clarissa. "You know... she once told me that even if she could make this go away, she wouldn't. She knows it makes everything harder on her, she knows people think she's crazy or she's making it up, but she also knows it allows her to help people. She told me she wouldn't change a thing in her life, not one thing."

"Do you know how she died?" Spencer wondered.

"I was there." Morris nodded.

"I thought it happened when she was in college before she was even considering joining the FBI." Spencer scrunched his eyebrows.

"It did." Was all Morris said. "It was one of the worst cases I've ever seen. I would never have thought she would turn out so well, not after that."

"You worked her case?" Spencer grew more curious now.

"This isn't something we should be talking about right now." Hotch sighed. "Reid, I sent the others to the hotel to get some sleep. It's twelve thirty."

"What about Clarissa?" Spencer looked up at the woman sitting in front of him.

"Can you get her out of this? The odds are nothing will happen at this hour. He doesn't do anything to the victims prior to the killings." Hotch gestured to Clarissa as he spoke.

"Nothing that we know of..." Spencer mumbled.

"It's hard to say. She may actually be sleeping right now." Morris looked thoughtful, reaching forward and brushing his fingertips over her hand gently to see if she would respond. "She doesn't seem to be feeling or hearing anything here. She must be completely connected to Ashley Green."

"So you can't get her out of it?" Hotch was clearly frustrated.

"There are things I could try but really only she can get herself out of it." Morris told them. "She's basically sleeping now. It may be best if she's with her when she wakes up. I'll stay here with her. I'll let you know when she opens her eyes."

"Suit yourself. Reid, you should get some rest." Hotch advised him and Reid found himself nodding in agreement.

"You know, it's not very often that you get to observe something like this. I think I'll stick around. I'll keep working on the geographical profile while we wait maybe I can narrow it down. I want to be here when she wakes up." Spencer decided. "If it comes down to it, I can get a couple of hours of sleep on the couch in the back." He nodded towards the small couch in the back of the room.

"Let me know when she wakes up. We are going to head out to the potential kill sights around eleven. If she's right, the kill will take place around noon. We want to be there before that happens. I hope you are right about her Agent Williams, this woman's life depends on it."

"No one understands that more than Claire, Agent Hotchner. What she said fits the profile now. She's just filled in the blanks ahead of time." Morris reminded him. "You trust the profile, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then just pretend Clarissa didn't feel in the blanks and work the case like you're blind."

"Will do."

* * *

><p>"Why doesn't anyone talk about what happened to her?"<p>

It was seven o'clock in the morning now, both Morris and Spencer managed to get a few hours of sleep each but spent the rest of the time talking. Morris loved art and he apparently enjoyed singing with Clarissa quite often. He was clearly a patient man to listen to Reid explain the mathematics behind music and song. Spencer decided that liked the man, he didn't make him feel like he was out of place. He seemed to truly appreciate what he had to offer which was probably one of the reason's Clarissa was so attached to him. He could see that now.

"She doesn't like to dwell on it." Morris sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Honestly, I still have nightmares from it so I can't imagine what goes on in that head of hers."

"How does she even function?"

"She has her moments, not usually during a case but sometimes she just has to break down and let it all out. It's like she collects all this information and feelings that has to be emptied from time to time. It's one of the reason I'm always with her. I know how to get her through it. Plus she doesn't seem to trust anyone else." Morris laughed. "My daughter gets kinda jealous."

"You have a daughter?"

"Sure do. She's grown now, a few years older than Claire here. She's trying to start a family of her own. I think apart of her envies the amount of time I spend with Claire even though she knows it's part of the job."

"It's more than that." Spencer pointed out. "You care about her."

"Yeah. I do. She's like a daughter to me now. She may as well be my own blood." Morris laughed shaking his head. "Claire says it takes more than blood to make you family."

"I agree with her." Spencer smiled, thinking of the team and how much they meant to him.

"She's always wondered about you, Dr. Reid. What it would be like to meet you, know you. It's been a real treat for her to get to have this experience with you." Morris told him making Spencer's face turn red and he looked up at her his eyes widening in surprise.

"Her eyes." He pointed up at her. "They're open."

* * *

><p>"Clarissa, can you hear us?" Morris stood up and waved his hand in front of her face.<p>

"I can." She answered but her eyes didn't seem to see them. "It's dark. What time is it?"

"I'm going to call Agent Hotchner and let him know she's awake." Morris left the room.

"7:13." Spencer answered.

"Spencer?" She smiled making Spencer's face melt into a smile as well. "Is that you?"

"It is. You really can't see me?"

"I can't see much of anything right now. Where ever she is, it's dark and I think she's bound because I can't seem to move." She stayed calm as she said this which Spencer found almost odd. "Wait, I see light. No. It's a door way, an open doorway."

"You don't see anyone? Do you see the Unsub?" Spencer found himself asking even thou he wasn't sure if he believed she could do what she was doing.

"No. But he must be in the room. The door wasn't open a second ago." She sighed, her eyes blinding moving around the room. "Why won't he just turn on the damn light? Why is he hiding?"

Spencer didn't know what to say. Thankfully Morris came back into the room.

"She's not bound." Clarissa changed her mind then. "She's drugged. She's heavy."

"He clearly doesn't want a fight." Spencer mumbled mainly to himself. "Maybe he's got a disability have some kind or he may have suffered an injury."

"He's moving her now. Ugh... he's changing her into the gown." She made a face of disgust and turned her head as she looked around the room. "It's smells like food."

"What kind of food?" Morris pulled out his pen and prepared to write in his journal.

"Um, smells kinda like..." She sniffed. "This is going to sound weird but it smells like corn."

"That actually doesn't sound strange at all, corn was an important crop to the Aztec's society so much so that it played a central part in their mythology." Spencer couldn't stop himself from spitting out the fact to her.

"I'm glad you're here Spencer. I don't know things like that. You're really helping me put this together." She managed to smile despite how uncomfortable she seemed to be.

"Anything else you smell, see, hear, feel?" Morris pulled them back onto topic.

"Um it's a small room, no windows, only one door. He's struggling to get the dress on her now. There's a shadow over his face... but his hair is medium length and shaggy. He's tall and big like I said but he's clearly struggling for some reason. He doesn't move very well, his left side seems slower." She squinted her eyes and turned her head again. "He's got gauges in his ears."

"What kind?" Spencer perked up.

"They're pretty large. They look gold."

"Only those of nobility could wear gold or precious stones in Aztec culture. That could be significant to the Unsub's profile, maybe he thinks he's a king of some kind." Spencer was mainly thinking out loud now.

"Great, a man with superiority complex." She muttered, making Spencer smile slightly.

"She's awake?" Agent Hotchner's voice floated into the room as he walked to the door way.

"Good morning Agent Hotchner. Yes, you could say I'm awake." Clarissa answered him, turning her head in his direction. "Anything I should know?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Agent Hotchner raised an eyebrow, looking at her as she seemed to look right past him.

Clarissa smiled at that and shook her head.

"Morris have you been taking notes?" Clarissa asked him.

"Of course."

"Show him please." Clarissa closed her eyes for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Morris stood as the other two studied her trying to figure out if any of this was actually happening.

"Yes." She opened her eyes slowly. "He turned the lights on. He's got red hair. Brown eyes. He's got a tattoo down his left arm, it seems to be covering scars of some kind."

"You know I need something more specific, Claire."

"I could show you better than I could tell you. But I... I don't think I can back into this once I'm out. I'll be too tired." She shook her head. "It looks kinda like a skeleton or a mummy. It's smiling with it's arms crossed. It's creepy but Ashley can't look away from it."

"Must be the Aztec God of Death." Spencer guessed. "More specifically Mictlantecuhtli, he was depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton or a person wearing a toothy smile. Although his head was typically a skull, his eye sockets did contain eyeballs but he often kept them closed, for it was believed that he did not need eyes to see. Where as his wife, Mictecacihuatl, was represented with a defleshed body with jaw agape to swallow the stars during the day."

"I'll have Garcia search for a man matching the description with the tattoo and I'll call the others to tell them what's happening." Agent Hotchner turned to leave the room but Spencer quickly stood up calling out to him.

"Can we really take what she says seriously?" He lowered his voice.

"You seemed to be taking her seriously just then." Agent Hotchner pointed out to him. "Listen we don't have much else to go on. We might as well give this a shot. She was asked to be here."

"Yeah." Spencer nodded his head and turned to go back into the room.

"Claire maybe you should back out of this now." Spencer walked in to hear Morris talking.

"I'm not leaving her."

"She doesn't know you're there." Morris sighed.

"You don't know that, Morris."

"But you do."

"It doesn't matter, I can't leave her alone."

"Claire, she is alone. This isn't the only way you can help her, you're an agent." Morris looked more sad than frustrated, it seemed to Spencer that this kind of conversation was common for them.

"I know but I'm right there with her. I see what she sees. There is nothing more valuable than that right now." She reasoned.

"You're tired. You need food, water, sleep... you're risking your own health here." Morris shook his head slowly as he looked at her.

"I'll be fine."

"You weren't fine last time, please..."

"I don't know what kind of condition I will be in when I back out. I'm of use right now. There's only a few more hours to go." She paused, tears building in her eyes but she blinked them away. "She deserves a chance."

"She has a chance." Spencer started to say without thinking but once he spoke he realized he couldn't stop. "I know you want to help her, we all do. But Morris is right, you can't put your health at risk."

She laughed at that.

"That's all we do as FBI agents."

"Spencer, what's going on?" Emily and Derek appeared in the doorway now taking in the scene in the small room.

"We may have a possible suspect soon if Garcia comes through for us." Spencer told them not acknowledging the fact that Clarissa was sitting on the table in front of them.

"Which she always does." Clarissa added.

"Clarissa, what are you doing?" Emily wondered, her voice gentle.

"I mediated so I could make a connection with Ashley. It sounds stupid saying that out loud..." Clarissa laughed slightly, making everyone smile uneasily.

"Connection?"

"She is experiencing everything Ashley is." Morris answered, rubbing his forehead.

"You really believe that?" Derek raised an eyebrow and glanced at Spencer to see him staring at Clarissa from his seat. "Pretty boy?"

"I don't know what to believe but if Garcia gets a name, we may not be able to deny her abilities." Spencer told them, glancing through the notes of the case trying once again to see if there was anything they missed.

"Spencer?" Clarissa looked alarmed all of a sudden.

"Yes?" His head snapped up to look at her.

"Do you know of any reason for the Unsub to be nice to his victims?"

"Define nice."

"He's dressing them in expensive looking gowns, cooking them food and then feeding them, now he's brushing her hair... he's gentle with her. She's afraid, of course. But she's also confused because he almost seems... nice." She explained, making him frown.

"Being a sacrifice was considered the highest honor one could give to the Gods. They would often have festivals where the chosen person would dress and act as the God and be treated as a God by everyone. The person was called an ixiptla, or a god image, and the entire point of the remainder of their existence was to be the earthly vessel of their God. It was believed that at the point of sacrifice, the god actually entered the human representing them." Spencer answered and blushed when he realized he had probably said to much.

"And if the Unsub believes he is the God of Death, why would he be making sacrifices? Hypothetically speaking..."

"It's hard to say... is it possible that he is making the sacrifices in honor of Mictecacihuatl?" Spencer tilted his head to the side.

"If he is... then he must have a reason right? Maybe he's under the impression that if he kills for Mictlan, Mictlante..."

"Mictlantecuhtli" Spencer smiled as she struggled with the pronunciation.

"Maybe he thinks if he kills for him, he can avoid dying himself? Does that make any sense?"

"You think he may be dying?" Spencer scrunched his eyebrows.

"This guy just doesn't look right... I can't put my finger on it."

"You did say that Ashley is drugged, is it possible that is changing her vision?" Morris suggested.

"I don't think so. He looks pale and almost sad. It's just not how I pictured him before."

"If he's dying then he's got nothing to lose." Derek pointed out.

"He's got everything to lose." Clarissa objected. "If he's hoping to be healed, he believes there is still a chance. You just don't give up something like that."

There was a silence for a moment. Each of the witnessing team members were curious about what she meant by that. There have been hints that she had experienced something horrible and life changing but none of them knew what to say about it, mainly because they didn't know what is was.

"What time is it now?" Clarissa broke the silence.

"Almost eight thirty, why?" Derek answered this time.

"He's left the room but now there's music playing." She looked confused. "Is this supposed to be a festival or celebration of some kind?"

"Possibly." Spencer answered, shrugging when Derek and Emily gave him a funny look once again. "Is there anything else that you see that may help us figure out where she is?"

"I don't think so." She sighed. "She's in a dark room, pretty small, and closed off."

"Do you think she's in a house?" Emily wondered.

Her eyes moved around, looking up and down, and back and forth for a moment.

"Yes but the room she's in is small. It's not what you would usually expect to see in a house."

"Could he have built it or at least done work on the home to make the space she's in?" Spencer wondered.

"I suppose anything is possible." She shrugged slightly.

* * *

><p>Suddenly Hotch came back into the room.<p>

"Garcis may have a match."

"Really?" Spencer sounded genuinely surprised.

"What's his name?" Clarissa asked, ignoring him.

"Brevet Wilder."

"Was he an athlete?"

"Baseball, in high school."

"Was he injured?"

"Car accident during his freshmen year."

"Let me guess..." She sighed.

"Anthropology major, yeah."

"The car accident would have occurred approximately ten to eleven weeks into the first semester." Spencer added.

"How do you know that?" Clarissa frowned.

"That's when he would have been studying the Aztec culture." Hotch answered. "He sustained a brain injury, it's possible he may be associating the peers from his classes as tribal members."

"That explains why he would be targeting them." Spencer muttered in agreement.

Clarissa nodded but didn't ask anymore questions.

"Would you like to see if he's the same man you've been seeing?" Hotch offered.

"I've no doubt your friend found him and you can only take my word that he is the same as I've seen. I would rather we catch him then see if I'm up to standard with my magic tricks." She muttered.

"Understandable. We've got an address. Did you want to come with us?" Agent Hotchner asked her.

"Once I come out of this, I'll be of no use to you." Clarissa sighed. "Morris, would you please go?"

"Who will take care of you?" Morris objected.

"I can stay." Spencer offered, looking around at everyone in the room. "I'm not the best out in the field anyway... Morris will be of better help."

"Fine. Let's move out."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope that didn't seem too unrealistic... Thanks for reading! :)<strong>


	4. Thank you, Dr Handsome

**Okay. Wow, Chapter Four already. I do so hope you enjoy it. Please review, they motivate me to continue the story. Thank you and happy reading! **

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

Clarissa listened as everyone rushed out of the room and waited until they were alone before speaking.

"Thank you for staying with me, Spencer."

"It's no problem." He swallowed suddenly feeling nervous being alone with her again.

"But since you stayed and Morris isn't here, I'm afraid I must ask you do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Now don't freak out."

"What is it?" Spencer repeated getting a little worried.

"I didn't want to worry Morris but it seems Ashley has quite a hold on me at the moment. I think I need sleep getting back to reality. Do you think you could slap me?"

"What?" He rose his voice in shock. "Why would you want me to do that?"

"I told you not to freak out... Look, it will shock me back into full focus of myself." She explained. "I'm barely even aware of my body at this point. I need a shock of some kind to bring me back. Do you understand?"

"Not really." Spencer muttered, shaking his head as his sweet eyes gazed at her face. "I don't want to hurt you."

"It's alright. I'm asking you to."

"That doesn't make me any feel better about it."

"Well it's either that or you kiss me." She laughed slightly at the quiet that followed. "But I realize that I've already gotten a kiss from you. I don't think I can ask for another."

"Um, actually you didn't get a kiss from me. I, I got a kiss from you. And I was in such shock that I could barely even process it..." He shook his head anxiously, his heart thudding harshly in his chest now as his face flushed at the memory.

"Well then it's your decision, Dr. Reid. Either way is fine with me. But I should warn you I may be in a bit of pain... I've been sitting like this for too long and I may be too tired to even walk. I don't know how I will be and I don't want to scare you."

"You already scare me." He almost whispered his voice was so low.

"Come now, that's not true." She smiled teasingly. "I'd like to think I excite you more than anything."

"You want me uncomfortable, don't you?" Spencer forced a chuckle to hide his uneasiness.

"I enjoy your nervous nature, yes."

Spencer blushed more at her words and he was thankful that she couldn't see him at the moment because he probably looked like a fool.

"You know this has got to be the strangest situation I've ever been in." He told her, standing up.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He mumbled, placed a hand on her cheek.

It may have been that he wanted to prove to her that he has the confidence to do it, or maybe it was because he couldn't handle slapping her across the face, and maybe it was because he had been dying to since they first kissed, but he decided to kiss her. And he only hesitated for a moment before bringing his lips up to meet hers. It took a bit of time but slowly her lips moved in response to his and her eyes fluttered shut.

Meanwhile Spencer's mind went blank. His stomach was doing flips and he was pretty sure he was shaking but at the same time he was enjoying himself. He was completely lost in the moment it wasn't until he felt fingers slip into his hair that his eyes opened. He broke the kiss and then quickly moved back toward her when he realized she was falling foward slightly.

"I feel like a Disney princess." She giggled as she rested her forehead on his shoulder. "Thank you and I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not." He mumbled and he felt her smile against him.

"Are you flirting with me, Dr. Reid?"

"Please call me Spencer." He carefully wrapped an arm around her waist as she slipped her arm over his shoulders and he began to help her off the table so she could stretch her legs.

"Only if you call me Claire."

"Claire." He tried it out and his phone rang.

"Spencer Reid." He answered his phone sounding slightly out of breath.

"Oh. Okay. I'm fine. Yes I'll let her know. Let Morris know she's... well she's back. Yes she's alright. Very funny... See you soon." He hung up the phone. "They got him."

"And Ashley?"

"She's alive."

"Good." She sighed with relief. "I could use a nap or maybe just some coffee."

"That's going to have to wait." JJ said stepping into the room with the chief of police with her.

"Is something wrong?" Clarissa frowned.

"Word got out that you're here. The press is outside." JJ told her, looking her over.

"I'm sorry." Alice added. "I don't know how this happened."

"It's alright. Ashley isn't in any danger any longer. I just wish I were in better shape to deal with this right now." Clarissa smiled despite the pain running up her legs.

"You can't really be thinking about going out there." JJ raised her eyebrows at her.

"I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be. It shouldn't take too long. I'll just make a statement and we can get out of here." Clarissa reasoned. "But first can I get some water?"

"Of course." Alice disappeared for a moment and came back with some.

"Do you want to sit down?" Spencer offered as she reached out for the cup.

"I'm sorry, Spencer." She shook her head downing some water. "I'm putting too much pressure on you, aren't I? I can..."

"No, no I'm fine. You aren't too much for me at all. I'm stronger than I look, I promise. It's just, well, you're in pain and I..."

"Don't know how to handle it?" She finished for him and he nodded. "You're helping me even if it doesn't seem like it. I'd appreciate it if you stayed with me for now, if you don't mind. I should really be walking. The pain will go away with time."

"You're right." Spencer nodded and watched as she put her now empty cup down.

"You sure you're okay? I'm sure you didn't get much sleep and I don't want to be a bother." Clarissa turned her head to look at his face.

He almost dropped her. They were so close. Their noses could almost touch. He clenched his jaw but couldn't stop his eyes from getting lost in hers. It was getting harder for him to not notice her beauty and apart of him was wishing he hadn't kissed her again because now it really was all he could think about.

"Yeah," He could barely get the words out. "Of course, why, uh, why wouldn't I be?"

"He's just the cutest, isn't he?" She shook her head and looked at JJ.

"He sure is something." JJ fought the urge to laugh and simply nodded her head 'yes'.

"I'm going to have Spencer here help me walk off some of this pain and then maybe you and I can deal with the press. Does that sound okay?" Clarissa turned her head to the side in question as she shot the blonde a smile.

"Yeah. That sounds good. Just let me know when you're ready." JJ walked off to meet the others as they should have been heading back soon.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you." Clarissa grunted as they walked back and forth through the police station, ignoring the stares they were getting.<p>

"Why would you embarrass me?"

"I'm pretty unusual. I tend to attract more negative attention than most and well, I see the looks you're getting from everyone, mainly the officers, by being around me. People must be questioning your sanity right now for spending so much time around me. I can't imagine how your team must feel about me hanging around you. And I tend to say exactly what I'm thinking because I don't have much of a filter really, and I ramble a lot, as I'm sure you've gathered. All of that adds up to be not being the best company."

"I'm pretty unusual myself, I don't need you around for people to see that." Spencer chuckled under his breath.

"Spencer..." She shook her head. "You are extraordinary. I'm the psychic freak of the FBI. I guess I spent so much time wondering what you were like, when I had the opportunity... I just had to know and once I was getting to know you, I just didn't want to stop."

Spencer was speechless and he just stared the ground for almost a minute as they walked.

"Did I say the wrong thing? I tend to put my foot in my mouth. I just don't know when to shut up, like right now..."

He turned his hand to look at her to find her eyes searching his face with an uneasy expression on her face. She looked so self conscious. This was the first time he had seen her confidence falter and knowing it was because of him made him feel flattered somehow.

"What? No. No, it's just... no one has ever talked about me that way before." He let out a nervous laugh. "I think you're more extraordinary than I am."

"I'll remember you said that." She poked his chest jokingly.

Spencer smiled and found he had to look away from her to get his thought back in order.

"Wow, is it hot in here or is it just me?" Clarissa laughed looking around the room as they passed by officer after officer.

"Uh, I'll hold your jacket, I mean if you'd like to take it off, if you think it's too hot to have it on that is..." Spencer couldn't believe he was having such a difficult time talking to her all of a sudden.

It's like when she couldn't see him, he felt somehow more comfortable around her. Now that those intense green eyes could stare into his again, he could barely think much less talk. He wasn't used to his brain failing him.

"I'm okay. But thank you, Spencer. My legs are starting to feel a little better. How do I look? Do I look like a train wreck because I feel like a train wreck." Clarissa ran her free hand through her hair.

"You look, you look great. You have nothing to worry about." Spencer tried to assure her.

She glared at him playfully.

"Maybe you aren't the person I should be talking to. You're too nice. Maybe I should ask Morris, he can be painfully honest." Clarissa raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hotch can be too." Spencer suggested.

"Wonderful let's find one of them."

* * *

><p>"How'd it go?" JJ asked as the rest of the team walked into the building.<p>

"It was all just as she said." Derek sighed. "We had to take him down, he wouldn't stop the ritual even when we threatened to shoot him."

"Why?" JJ shook her head in disbelief.

"Turns out the car accident he was in a few months ago caused traumatic brain injury and a tumor was discovered when he went to the hospital for treatment. He had a year at the most. He was desperate." Derek shrugged.

"That's horrible." JJ sighed.

"So what's going on with pretty boy over there?" Derek nodded towards Spencer as he was laughing with Clarissa who still was leaning on him for support.

"Oh he's falling in love." JJ smiled at the sight.

"You think?" Emily walked up.

"He's completely smitten with her and she seems just as taken with him." JJ crossed her arms as they watched the two interact with one another.

"You think something will come of this?" Emily wondered.

"I hope so. I've never seen him this happy." Derek answered first.

"I don't know. I'm a little worried." JJ pursed her lips.

"Why? She seems like a nice girl." Derek shifted on his feet.

"It's just that they are so different. He goes completely on the facts and she goes on what she feels." JJ sounded uncertain as she said this.

"Opposites attract, right?" Emily looked at Derek.

"And there's the whole, she died and no one wants to talk about it thing." JJ added. "What if she has some serious issues?"

"You mean like a drug addiction?" Derek cocked an eyebrow.

"Look I know Spence isn't perfect but he's gotten past it."

"Yeah. I'm sure Morris would say the same about Clarissa." Emily reasoned.

"JJ are you saying you think we should have Garcia check on her?" Derek turned to her.

"I don't know... maybe. What do you think?" JJ looked at Emily.

"We were told not to. We don't even know what's going on with them yet." Emily watched as Spencer's face reddened as he probably stammered out some random fact for her and she was grinning at him the entire time. "Maybe we should have her just do a small check on her. Just in case."

Derek took his phone out of his pocket.

"But keep it on the down low, we don't want anyone to know about this." Emily reminded him.

* * *

><p>"Oh you know what, I still have my overnight bag here." Clarissa remembered. "I can at least brush my hair and fix up my make-up real quick.<p>

"Okay. Where is it?" Spencer couldn't see the need for her to try to fix herself up, she looked perfectly fine to him.

"The office we were in earlier." She told him and they hurried off.

Once she got her things, Spencer walked her to the bathroom and waited outside while she fixed herself up. He almost went to find JJ or Emily so they could make sure that she was alright but she insisted that she would be fine. When she came out she didn't look that much different to him but she must have sprayed something on her because she suddenly smelled like the sweet smell again. He still couldn't figure out what it was but he knew that he was familiar with the scent. Clarissa then insisted that they find JJ who was talking to Hotch when they found her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I'm ready to talk to the press now."

"Agent Teal, you look well." Hotch commented looking her over as she was now only holding onto Spencer's arm for support.

"I'll be good as new in a couple of hours, maybe after I get some sleep. I'm glad everything worked out." Clarissa gave him a polite smile, one that was not anywhere near as sparkling as her usual smile but still quite lovely.

"We were glad to have you apart of the team." Hotch nodded at her.

"Jennifer and I are going to go deal with the sharks outside and then we can leave whenever you give the say so." Clarissa told him and he agreed.

* * *

><p>JJ walked with Clarissa outside who was a little bit slower without Spencer's support. He wanted to go with her but she said she didn't want to look weak to the press and Spencer understood.<p>

"Clarissa Teal! Clarissa! Miss. Teal!" The press started fighting for her attention as soon as they came into view.

"Please, one question at a time." JJ spoke over them making everyone quiet down.

There was a pause before Clarissa pointed to a woman in the front who had her hand raised.

"Hello Agent Teal, can I ask what was with all the secrecy? Why did no one know you were apart of this investigation?"

"It was a need to know basis. Because I am known as a psychic, there was cause for concern on how the Unsub might react to my involvement."

"Do you consider yourself a psychic?" Was the next question.

"I prefer not to label myself."

"My sources say you were leading the investigation, can you tell us if your psychic abilities helped you with this?"

"I don't know who your source is but they were mistaken. I was not leading the investigation. I was working as a consultant with a team of specialists from the FBI. And my abilities help with every case I am involved in."

"It's been speculated that you fainted at one of the crime scenes, is this true?"

"I did have a moment when I needed to collect myself, yes."

"Can you tell us anything about how you assisted in this investigation?"

"There's not much to say. I was working with an amazing group of agents. This would have been solved with or without my help."

"You look to be injured. Do you have any comment on that?"

"No I do not." Clarissa looked to the next person.

JJ was pretty impressed with how quickly she breezed through the questions. She was careful with her answers and they didn't seem to bother her at all until the last question.

"Did you need to collect yourself because this case reminded you of what you went through almost six years ago?"

"I'm afraid we're all out of time, we have a flight to catch. Thank you for your time. Take care." Clarissa walked away quickly, as quickly as she could in her current state, with JJ at her side.

* * *

><p>"Clarissa, are you alright?" JJ asked when they stepped back into the police department.<p>

"I'm fine. I'm going to go get my things." She muttered and disappeared down the hall.

"They asked about it, didn't they?" Morris sighed glancing back out the window at the reporters who were left stunned by her sudden departure. "They always do. They just won't let it go."

"Maybe I should go talk to her?" Rossi offered.

"She's alright. It's probably best if we don't push it with her, if she wants to talk about it then she will. Until then there isn't much we can do. I'm just going to see if she needs any help with her things, she's pretty tired and she still looks kinda sore." Morris told them before walking off to find her.

"What exactly did they ask her?" Rossi turned to JJ with a curious expression on his face.

"A man asked if this case reminded her of what she went through, almost six years ago." JJ summarized watching everyone's reactions.

"What happened to this girl, Rossi?" Derek looked at his fellow team member with a frustrated expression on his face.

"Ask her." Rossi refused to say anything.

"I tried. She just walked away." Spencer looked in the direction she walked in. "Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad."

"And it's understandable that she doesn't like to talk about what she's been through, especially with her co-workers. I'm sure you can relate." Rossi's words made Spencer flinch.

No one said anything at that. Everyone waited in silence for the pair to return with their things and then they were off to the airport. Spencer lagged behind so he could end up in the same car as Clarissa and Morris. And he smiled when he ended up sitting next to her for the hour ride there.

"You look tired." Spencer leaned toward her as he spoke.

"Why thank you Spencer. You know just what a girl likes to hear." She joked and turned her head to shoot him one of her heart stopping smiles.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way." His voice sounded so gentle.

"I'm not offended Dr. Handsome." She shook her head slightly but kept her voice low too. "But if I pretend to be, will you offer yourself up to be my pillow to make up for hurting my feelings?"

"Anything to get back in your good graces." He managed to say with stuttering.

"Okay Spencer but only because you are insisting so!" Clarissa rose her voice making all in the car give them questioning looks before she hugged his arm and rested her head against his shoulder.

Morris chuckled his rich deep laugh but didn't make a comment.

"Poor guy, I don't think he can handle her." Rossi laughed in the front passenger seat.

"He's doing just fine." Clarissa closed her eyes and was quickly falling asleep.


	5. The Past Revealed

**Hello, sorry it's been awhile... I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review please! **

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<p>

Morris carried Clarissa to the plane and managed to lay her down on the couch without waking her. Their relationship seemed a bit odd to the team but no one said anything about it. Spencer sat across from Rossi and started playing chess with him. Derek, JJ and Emily sat together while Hotchner was filling out paperwork. Every team member seemed distracted, most of them unknown to one another were all thinking of the same person.

"So how exactly do you know Clarissa?" Spencer eventually had to bring her up in conversation but it tried to sound as casual as possible.

"I told you Reid, I know her through her uncle." Rossi leaned his head in his palm and thought for a moment before adding. "I met her when she was about ten. She was looking for her uncle one day at Headquarters. She got away from her mother and she was one of those kids you just couldn't ignore."

"She must not have changed much."

"You know it's hard to explain... she grew up to be something different than I expected but the qualities that she had then, the draw that makes you want to watch her because you just know that she has something amazing to say. That's still there. She just always said that she was going to be an internationally known female engineer. That's how she was going to change the world. And I believed her. You believe almost anything that girl says."

"Yes. I got that." Spencer nodded.

"I haven't seen her in a couple of years. So I don't really know how she developed to be who she is today but I'm pretty proud of her so far." Rossi added, glancing at the woman on the couch.

"I have to say I have been tempted to do some reading up on her. I know you asked me not to... and after seeing how she reacted to the reporters bringing up the past, I can understand why. She's clearly been through something but I can't help my curiosity."

"I'm sure she would understand that. But if you want to show her that you have any kind of respect for her, you need to respect her privacy."

"It's just I know that I've seen her face before. I just can't understand why I don't remember anything about her." Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You must not have read or heard about her then. Is it possible you saw her in passing? Maybe around the Bureau?"

"I don't think so. She didn't act like we've seen one another before." Spencer reasoned. "I think she would have said something, if we had."

"Yes I'm sure she would have." Rossi made his move on the chess board.

"I feel so lost just talking to her and I don't want to say the wrong thing."

"You seem to be doing just fine." Rossi smiled and watched as Spencer slowly made his move.

Meanwhile, Derek was quietly talking to Emily and JJ.

"Maybe we shouldn't have asked Garcia to do a search." Derek ran his hand over his face.

"It's not that big a deal." JJ shrugged. "It's just a small one. She's doing the basics, that's all."

"Yeah. You really think she'll be able to help herself once she starts?" Emily wondered.

"I don't care what kinda search it is. Would you want people going through your personal life?" Derek raised an eyebrow at JJ who simply looked away from him. "Look I know that we mean well in this, but it just doesn't feel right."

Derek's phone went off.

"Hey baby, how's it goin?"

"So I did some digging." Was the response he got.

"Oh really? Where we going tonight?" Derek glanced at Spencer and then Hotch as he tried to appear casual in the conversation.

"I know we want to keep this on the down low. But there is so much to this, chocolate thunder." Garcia was still typing away at the computer. "You aren't going to believe this. You just google search her name and 72 results come up. That's pretty impressive, really."

"Well that sounds like a bit much, can't we go somewhere more casual?"

"I tried to keep it basic but, well, one thing led to another and... will you come see me when you land?" Garcia asked.

"Of course. I'll see you soon babygirl. Bye." He mumbled and hung up.

Hotch eyed him but didn't seem that suspicious and Spencer didn't even seem to have really noticed the conversation took place he was so caught up in his own conversation.

* * *

><p>The plane landed and Clarissa slept through the whole thing somehow. Morris didn't complain once as he picked her up once more and walked through the airport with her to place her in one of the cars waiting for them. Spencer wordlessly helped Morris carry their things and packed up the car.<p>

"She's a deep sleeper." Spencer commented, getting into the passenger seat with Morris driving and Clarissa in the back.

"She's also exhausted." Morris looked in the mirror to glance at his partner. "It's pretty unusual really, for her to fall asleep while technically still on the job."

"She has to sleep sometime."

"People already assume she's weak for being a woman plus she's a psychic. Everyone is looking at her, waiting for her to mess up somehow or slip up and prove she's a fake. It's not easy to impress the FBI and she holds herself at a pretty high standard. She wants to do everything perfectly."

"I guess that's understandable." Spencer nodded, looking back at her.

"You like her." Morris stated him, out of the blue.

"What? I, uh, what makes you say that?"

"Something tells me that you aren't a person that would typically even consider the possibility of a psychic and yet you gave her the benefit of the doubt throughout this case." Morris reasoned with a smirk on his face. "As beautiful as Clarissa is, she doesn't typically bring out the kinder side of people. Some will avoid her while some will seek her out in times of desperate need. But she brings out the skeptic in everyone at one point or another, all of your team members in fact, but not you."

"I was the first to question her abilities." Spencer objected.

"And yet you stayed with me all night to wait for her to wake up. When she did, you entertained her every word with facts to support them."

"She fascinates me." He admitted.

"I'm glad." Morris smiled.

Spencer didn't know what to say so he remained quiet and thankfully that didn't seem to bother Morris. They sat quietly as they drove about forty five minutes back to the Bureau until they heard some stirring from behind them.

"Morris?" A tiny voice grumbled from the back seat.

"I'm here. We are on our way back to the Bureau."

"I've been asleep this whole time?"

"It seems so." Spencer fought a smile.

"I didn't do anything embarrassing, did I?"

"No. You were very boring this time." Morris told her.

"How unusual of me." She grumbled, sitting up.

Morris chuckled at that.

"Boring?" Spencer looked at Morris for an answer.

"You shouldn't have let me sleep so long... it was unprofessional of me to fall asleep in the first place. Did Agent Hotchner say anything?"

"No one said anything." Spencer assured her.

Clarissa grew quiet then and for a moment Spencer thought that she may have fallen back to sleep. He turned his head to glance back at her to see her staring out the window with a dazed expression on her face.

"Clarissa?" Spencer tried to get her attention but she didn't even look at him.

"We lost her." Morris spoke up making Spencer look up at him. "Don't worry about it. It's actually a pretty normal thing for her to do. Zoning out every once and a while isn't all that uncommon."

"Yeah." Spencer murmured and he found himself turning to look out the window as well.

His mind began to wander back to the case and the interactions he had with Clarissa, not just the kissing. It was mainly the conversations, namely the one they had on the plane. He had never had someone so interested in knowing him before. Most people can barely stand to have a conversation with him at all. This woman, he had made her laugh and he_ flirted_ with her. It all just seemed too good to be true really. Who would have thought he would get along so well with a woman that's known as a psychic? It didn't seem like much time had passed but soon the car came to a stop and Spencer found they were back.

* * *

><p>Morris got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Clarissa. Spencer silently cursed himself for not doing it himself. He opened his own door and stepped out. When he shut his door, he watched as Morris took Clarissa's hands and helped her out of the car. She cringed slightly as if she were still in a bit of pain and she took a moment tostretch out her body once she was standing, which Spencer shyly looked away as she did so.<p>

"Where are the others?" Clarissa wondered and when Spencer turned to look at her again he found she was looking at him for an answer.

"Oh, uh, I'm not sure. They may already be inside."

"I'm surprised you didn't go with them." She commented absent mindedly, looking up at the building as they walked towards it.

"I'm not." Morris grumbled with a grin on his face, making Spencer blush but Clarissa didn't seem to notice. In fact, she seemed pretty distracted.

"I am going to check with Agent Hotchner. I'm sure he has some paperwork for me to fill out." Clarissa announced once they were inside and she walked off to his office.

"I'm going to, uh, go check in with the others."

"I'll call my daughter, let her know I'm home." Morris pulled out his phone and walked off.

* * *

><p>"Agent Hotchner?" Clarrisa stepped into his own office to find him standing behind his desk.<p>

"Yes, Agent Teal?"

"You have paperwork for me to fill out?"

"Oh, yes, of course." He searched around his desk for a moment.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Fine." He muttered and looked up at her. "I would prefer if you refrained from making any kind of..."

"It wasn't a psychic observation just an observation." She assured him with a small smile. "Although you should know if I were to intuitively pick anything up... it's not on purpose. It's why I didn't bother to ask you or your team not to profile me, I realize some times, well, some things can't be helped."

Hotchner nodded his head.

"I apologize if my being on the case made you uncomfortable. I realize this was all done over your head and it's not how I prefer things to be done."

"I appreciate that but it's not necessary. Everything went fairly well."

"Yes, it did."

"Here it is." Hotcher pulled out a file. "This needs to be filled out and brought back to me as soon as possible."

"Of course, right away, sir." She took the file and turned to leave.

"Agent Teal."

"Yes?" She paused in the doorway.

"You don't do well with authority, do you?"

"Are you profiling me, Agent Hotchner?"

"It's just a question."

"I'm not exactly the leading type, I can take orders well enough, but my work does require a bit of wiggle room. I suppose I just don't like so much structure."

"You challenged me." He pointed out.

"Do you not like to be challenged, sir?"

"I prefer to have team members who will listen and take the job seriously." He answered, his face so serious.

"The job is my life, sir. However, if I were as serious as you are all the time... I think I'd go mad and that's assuming I haven't already." She grinned at him and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>Clarissa wandered the halls trying to find the team so she could say goodbye to them. It was early still, only about five o'clock in the afternoon. She was hoping maybe Morris would go to an early dinner with her but she didn't want to leave without saying anything. The Bullpen was empty and she checked the debriefing room but came up empty. She wandered a bit longer until she heard a familiar voice only this was one she hasn't heard in a long time.<p>

"Take a good look, Agent Fickler. This will be the last time you will see your beautiful niece." A man's taunting voice came from the other room.

Clarissa slowly approached the room to find the team all watching a video on the computer. The video that happened to be the last hours of her previous life, it was the video of the moment in her life that made her so well known. It was the moment she could never seem to escape, in fact there were times when Clarissa feared this was the only thing she would be remembered for.

The screen was split in half like most web cam conversations would be. On one side was Clarissa, who was in a dimly lit room with the Unsub standing next to her, and on the other was her family, who appeared to be in some kind of office. The Unsub clearly wanted them to see one another, to see each other's pain.

"Oh good, you brought her mother as well."

"It's what you asked for." Her uncle responded through gritted teeth.

"Now there is no need for such anger, you brought this on yourself. I told you if you didn't back off, you would regret it. I, however, am quite happy you didn't. I would never have gotten to meet little Rosa here."

"Rosa?" Spencer sounded confused.

"She changed her name about six months after this happened. Her name was Rosa Claire Teal." Penelope answered from her seat in front of the computer.

"She said she wasn't the same person after she died, that everything changed." Spencer said allowed mainly to himself.

Clarissa couldn't really see the computer screen from where she stood in the hallway because there were so many people standing in front of it but she didn't need to see it. She had lived it after all. She had nightmares for years after and sometimes she can't even escape it when she is awake now. She knew it by heart by now.

"She has nothing to do with this." Her uncle kept his voice strong.

"This has everything to do with you and if she hurts... you hurt." The man responded, the team cringed at what was happening on the screen.

Clarissa pulled back her sleeve and looked at her arm, mainly the scars that were scattered down it. She shook her head. She couldn't believe they were watching this right now but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She couldn't bring herself to stop it.

"No, stop it." Penelope shook her head, looking away as the girl on the screen that had her hands tied above her head closed her eyes as the man standing behind her sliced little cuts along her arm and the blood ran down to her sides.

"Who is the girl behind her?" Derek spoke up.

"That was his latest victim, Dana Shull. She was taken just a few hours before Rosa, I mean Clarissa was. When the Unsub realized how close they were to catching him, he did some searching of his own. He found out that then Agent Fickler had a niece attending college just a few hours away."

"And he took her." Emily finished for Garcia.

"And he tortured her on camera while forcing her family to watch." Derek added, shaking his head. "That's sick. That is so sick."

"Poor little Rosa..." The man cooed, leaning his forehead against the side of her head.

Suddenly, the young woman pulled back her head and slammed hard to his. The man cried out and stumbled back from her dropping the knife. She closed her eyes clenching her jaw in pain.

"That wasn't very smart, little Rosa."

"Don't call me Rosa. Don't say my name. Don't speak to me at all." She spit back, defiance clear in her face and eyes.

"The kid had spunk." Derek smiled with a small sense of pride in his eyes.

Spencer couldn't understand how a person so young could hold such a defiance in her eyes. Blood running down her arms, a bruise forming on the side of her head, most likely from when he kidnapped her, hands stretched above her head nearly forcing her to stand on her toes, and she still managed to look at him with such a strong expression. It was incredible to him. It made him think back to his own kidnapping and he found himself wishing he had had such bravery.

"Not very smart, little Rosa." The man repeated and he slowly reached out to her to unbutton her top. "That kind of behavior will not be tolerated."

Spencer looked away as her top fell open and the man began to cut the shirt off. Clarissa almost rolled her eyes. He wants to pretend to respect her now? What was he doing watching the video in the first place? The man disappeared from the screen for a moment and returned with something new in his hand, a whip.

"Prepare yourself, sweet Rosa." The man's voice seemed so void of emotion.

"No! Please don't hurt my baby!" Clarissa's mother yelled, tears running down her face.

"Mom, it's okay." Clarissa had started to say but when the cracking sound was heard she screamed and shut her eyes.

The video was paused then.

"I can't do this. I can't watch anymore." Penelope's voice was shaking.

"You aren't even at the best part yet." Clarissa found herself saying, making everyone jump slightly.

"Clarissa..." Spencer murmured when he turned to face her.

"The video goes on for a few hours." She continued, ignoring him. "I'm surprised you found it, honestly. I thought they had been taken care of. You must be very good. But then again, they do say once something is posted on the internet... you can never take it back, right?" She looked at Penelope who looked away from her.

"We were just..." Derek started.

"Checking up on me and you didn't expect to find this..." She cut him off. "Well, we are here now and since you started it, I think it's fair you see it through to the end. Don't you?"

"I don't understand." Emily stared at Clarissa curiously.

"Skip to about ten minutes left of the tape, won't you Penelope?" Clarissa ignored them.

"Uh, okay." Penelope was too stunned to argue.

She pushed play once again on the tape and skipped to the time frame she asked for.

"At this point, my uncle had been looking for me for a few hours. George Birsha, my captor, hadn't left me alone for one moment. My uncle called everyone he could to help him, he was in a panic to find me. I had no way of knowing that they were closing in on him and meanwhile I had my choices to make..." She told them as the video reloaded.

"Silly me." George spoke aloud. "I've forgotten all about, Dana here."

Dana was a little further back in the room so it was more difficult to see her in the dim lighting. But the team could see her enough as he stepped back towards her. The girl was crying already or maybe she had been the whole time, it was hard to tell really.

"We don't want her to feel left out. Rosa, don't you want her to be in on the fun?"

Clarissa was hanging limply now with her head down. She looked defeated and no one in the room wanted to even think about what he had done to her to make her look so broken. Slowly and with a bit of a struggle, she lifted her head to look at the screen, to look at her mother. Gently, she weakly pulled at the ropes that held her, probably for the thousandths time.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her eyes staring at the screen.

Her mother shook her head and held a hand to her mouth. Clarissa looked to be in bad shape. Cut marks down her arms had scabbed over slightly, bruises and blood on her face, but worst of all her eyes were blank and dark around them. She looked exhausted. Clarissa tilted her head back to look up at her wrists and she reached up to grab hold of the rope that held her up. She tried to pull herself off the ground but her arms were too weak. Shesighed and let go. Dana was screaming as George bent over her and Clarissa closed her eyes before turning her body around to face George. And then with all her strength she kicked him in the back.

"What's she doing?" JJ asked, looking at her friends.

"Saving Dana's life." Spencer answered.

There was a moment then. George froze and Dana grew quiet. He stood to his full height and quickly turned to face her, back handing her as he did. Clarissa's body didn't even resist as it was thrown to the side. And then the unexpected happened, no one had been prepared for this. But she started laughing and laughing hard. George hit her again silencing her for a moment only for her to laugh more. He reached up and grabbed her by the hair forcing her to look up at him.

"And what the hell do you think is so funny?"

"You know... I'll admit when I first woke up and found myself here, I was scared. You put on a good show. But now that I've seen what you do." She shook her head. "I don't know why I was so worried. You aren't so scary, in fact you're pretty pathetic."

He slapped her in the face again. She spit out some blood and looked at him with a blood stained grin.

"Stop laughing at me, you bitch!" He yelled and punched her in the stomach.

He kept hitting her when suddenly he stopped and looked up at the ceiling. Clarissa slowly lifted her head to do the same.

"Are you expecting company?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" He turned around and stepped closer to the door to the right of her.

"I can't wait to see you behind bars." Clarissa whispered.

"You won't be seeing anything, bitch!" He whipped around to face her and he pulled out a knife that hung on his belt.

What happened next, happened fast. The door was kicked down as he ran at her. She screamed as he slammed into her. He slammed into her so hard that the wood that the rope was tied to broke sending her crashing to the ground on her back and with him on top of her. A shot was heard as they fell and then it was quiet. Agents squirmed into the room guns pointed directly at George's back. Everyone stood still as the dust and dirt that was kicked up settled.

"Rosa?" Agent Fickler called out to her. "Rosa!"

He looked back at his team, Agent Williams among them, before holstering his gun and pulling George off of her. He jumped back when he found that he was still alive and was now pointing a bloody knife at him.

"Put the knife down!" An agent ordered.

"We will shoot!" Another added.

"Don't kill him!" Clarissa yelled, her voice breaking slightly as she did. "I want him to rot in a cage!"

"You stupid bitch! Don't you get it? I won." George turned to her lifting the knife in his hand as he did and Agent Fickler took the opportunity to hit the knife out of his hands.

"I don't care." Clarissa told him.

Agents quickly moved in and arrested him. While others went over to help Dana.

"Is she okay?" Clarissa asked, her breathing sounded labored.

"What?" Her uncle leaned down beside her.

"Dana, is she alright?"

"Yes, she looks like she's going to be just fine." He answered her after glancing back at her.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't just let him..."

"I know Rosie. You did good. You did good, Rosie." He told her, reaching over and untying her wrists.

"Tell mom that I love her, okay?"

"Why wouldn't you tell her yourself?" He looked confused.

"I'm not sure I'm going to..." She glanced down at herself to see lots of blood coming from her left hip area.

"Oh God!" He yelled and started to try to stop the bleeding. "Please, I promised your mother I would bring you home. We need a medic over here!"

"Looks like I get the last laugh, little Rosa." George laughed as he was pushed out the door.

"It's okay, Uncle J. It's okay..." She kept repeating until her eyes fluttered shut.

One of the agents went up to the camera and then the screen went black. The team turned around to face Clarissa but she was gone. Spencer rushed out of the room to find her with the rest of the team not far behind. They found Clarissa was leaving the building with Morris at her side.

"Claire!" Spencer called out, making her pause.

"I died on my way to the hospital and they brought me back in the ambulance. I changed my name because every time someone would say it, I heard him. George is in prison serving a life sentence. I visited him once after court but that was years ago. Dana suffered what was considered minor injuries. She was close to my age, sixteen at the time. She had a difficult time after everything but she wants to be a teacher now. She and her family still stay in touch with me. They remind me each time we talk that I saved her life, even they won't let it go. Did that answer all of your remaining questions?"

"I don't know what to say." Spencer admitted.

"I don't blame you for being curious. I understand it, I really do. But I just... I think if we had spent more time together. If we had become friends then I think I would have just told you what happened myself. I think I just liked being able to talk to people that had no idea what had happened that day." She didn't turn to face them.

"I'm sorry. It was my idea to look into you. Penelope just did what was asked of her and Spencer had no idea what we were up to." JJ stepped forward.

"I'm not angry. I'm disappointed." Clarissa sighed and shook her head. "Morris, I want to go home now. Will you take me home?"

"Of course."

Spencer could do nothing but watch as she took Morris's arm and walked out of the building. He closed his eyes for a moment before turning to his team members. They all looked guilty but Spencer couldn't help but feel some anger towards them.

"She probably would have just told me herself." Spencer repeated.

"Spence, I am so sorry." JJ put a hand on his shoulder.

"Why did you feel like you had to look into her at all?"

"You two looked like you were getting close and I just thought, if she had any issues, we should know what happened. You should know."

"Don't you think that was something she should have told me or any of us for that matter? You had no right to make a judgement about her, especially on my account. I could have lived my entire life without seeing that video."

"I had no idea that..."

"She already told us that she is constantly evaluated and even if she were to have some kind of issues as a result of what she has been through, don't you think that would be understandable after seeing just a portion of it? We basically just watched her die. Can you imagine having everyone you work with or even meet knowing something like that happened to you? How can she even interact with anyone honestly?" Spencer waited for an answer but no one said anything. "She just wanted some honest conversation and now I'll be lucky if she ever talks to me again."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Derek tried to calm him down. "She just said she's disappointed. She probably just needs some time to cool off, that's all."

"Yeah, well, I hope you're right." Was all Spencer said before walking out of the building.


	6. Not Letting Go

**Okay. I hope you guys like it. Reviews are always welcome.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<p>

"Thank you, Morris." Clarissa's voice now solemn as the car slowly came to stop in front of her apartment. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"You know, we can out live the past..."

"Can we?" She looked at her partner. "It is the past that creates the present. It makes us who we are. It can not be changed and so it will never go away. He will always be there when I turn around."

"So don't turn around." Morris shook his head at her. "My dear, you are the strongest person I know and it wasn't your past that made you strong, it just proved it."

"I don't think the past makes me weak."

"Then why is it that you don't want to be that girl anymore? Why are you trying so hard to run away from who you were? From where I was standing that girl was pretty amazing." Morris told her.

"She was... but she died in that house and came back changed." She sighed. "I can't be her anymore and when people bring up the past... there are expectations of who I should be or worse there is pity in their eyes. And rather they mean to or not, they judge me and what I can bring to the table. I do not want my past to be all that I am. I feel like a memory, a walking flashback, and I'm tired. I just want to move on."

"The past is remembered, it is valued and it is, at times, nice to look back on. But we all have things that we would rather forget and we all deal with those things in our own way. No one is asking you to stay still."

"I suppose you are right. Maybe if I talk about it openly to the public, they will let it go." Clarissa looked out the window.

"Claire, about the kid."

"Do you mean Dr. Reid?" She turned to him with a controlled expression. "You realize he is older than I am."

"And you're a kid to me too." He chuckled before sobering his expression. "I believe he deserves a chance. I think he may be good for you."

"You don't seem to have considered if I would be any good for him." She looked away from him now.

"Come on now, you know you would be..." He paused and sighed when she didn't respond. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I hope it is something you will think about. He seems to truly like you."

"I will think about it. But... I'm tired. I should get some more rest. That case really took a lot out of me."

"Are you sure you want to be alone?" Morris couldn't let her go without asking. "You know I have an extra room or I could stay on your couch. Maybe I could drive you to your mother's?"

"That's alright." She shook her head. "But I'll call you if I need anything." She opened the door to the car and began to step out of it.

"Clarissa." He stopped her. "Do you still see them?"

"You know the answer to that, Morris. I never stopped." She shut the door before opening the back door to grab her things. "Thanks for the talk. I will call you tomorrow."

* * *

><p>Claire unlocked her door and stepped into the apartment. She dropped her things onto the floor and re-locked the door before flipping the lights on. She looked around the empty living room for a moment then she picked up her things and took out the clothes that needed washing. She left the rest packed because she never knew when she would need them again.<p>

With the clothes in the wash, she made her way into the kitchen searching for something to eat. When she opened the fridge she found staring back at her was TV dinners, ice cream, and a pack of orange soda. She needed to do some serious food shopping. She sighed, put a TV dinner in the oven, grabbed a can of soda and plopped down on the couch. She considered turning on the television, maybe watching the news or an episode of a slap stick comedy, to get her mind off of things but she found herself getting lost in her thoughts once again.

"Come on Claire." She mumbled to herself. "It's not like it was a secret."

"Well yeah, but they totally invaded your privacy. It was so unprofessional." Claire looked up to see her friend Andrea pacing the floor in front of her.

"Well they do profile for a living... Claire said herself that she knows they can't help doing it sometimes." Pam shifted from one foot to the other in the corner of the room.

"She meant like observations that they make. I don't think doing a search on her entire history is what she meant, right Claire?" Andrea flipped her blonde hair to look at her.

"I think you're both right." Claire's gaze now fixed on the floor.

"Yeah, but I was more right. Right?"

"Oh shut it, Andrea. Let's talk about what's really bothering her." Tanika huffed and sat down on the couch next to Claire criss crossing her legs. "You're upset that the cute doctor saw the monsters in your closet, aren't you?"

"He already thought I was odd. I can't imagine what he thinks now." Claire groaned and stood up when the oven alarm went off. "I mean, come on, what would you think if you had just met me?"

"I would think that you are very nice." Pam squeaked in the corner.

"You'd think she's a crazy person." Tanika rolled her eyes when Andrea and Pam stared in her direction. "Oh please, you both know it's true."

"It's alright. You know I always appreciate your honesty, Tanika." Claire watched as she stuck her tongue out at the other two girls. "What I don't appreciate... is when you influence me and that goes for all of you. You didn't help much with Spencer, you know."

"That wasn't our fault. You need to meditate more." Tanika grinned at her as she placed her food on a plate and walked towards her. "It wasn't on purpose. You picked up on me, or us."

"You may be right. I have neglected my spiritual duties. But you pushed, Tanika, and you know it. I still can't believe I kissed him, two minutes into knowing him! Talk about making an impression."

The girls laughed with her as she sat back down and started eating.

"Well, I think he's cute. What about you, Drea?" Tanika raised an eyebrow.

"He's a little skinny for my taste but he's totally cute for you." Andrea shrugged her shoulders. "He's very geek chic. I approve."

"Gee thanks, Drea." Claire mumbled as she stuffed her face. "What about you Pam, you haven't said much?"

"I like him too. I'm just sorry if I messed things up at the police station for you with him." She pulled down at her sweater nervously.

"You didn't. I was feeling a little self conscious myself at that moment. I just hate showing it in public, especially when on the job."

"I think he likes you." Tanika grinned.

"Oh he totally likes her!" Andrea agreed.

"Okay, I'm too tired for this." Claire decided, laughing slightly. "I need sleep."

"But it's only six thirty." Andrea complained as Claire cleaned up before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

><p>Once she was clean, Claire changed into PJ's and went to sleep. And like most people, she dreamed. They say dreams are images created by the subconscious to rely messages to the dreamer. It's believed that one can interpret meanings from the symbols used in the dreams. Some are typical, like crows representing death and doves representing peace. But Claire did not dream of birds, not this night. No, Claire dreamed of the past. It was a place she visited often in her sleep and yet this time was different. It was like it was being shown to her. It was darker somehow. She knew she was dreaming and yet she felt like she was being watched.<p>

_Wake up! _She screamed to herself. _This is a dream. This is only a dream. All you have to do is wake up! _

"Wake up!" She heard as she jolted awake nearly falling out of bed.

Her right hand lay on her chest feeling the drumming of her own heart as she calmed her breathing and looked around the room. It was still dark. She turned to her bedside table and flicked on the lamp. Light burst into the room. She looked down at her alarm clock. 5:43AM it blinked.

"That's a new record." She mumbled, laying back down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"My, my, you've grown little Rosa."

Clarissa froze at the sound. The room was stuffed with a suffocating silence. Slowly she blinked and looked around the room. But the room was empty. Maybe it was shock but she was shaking slightly and the room suddenly felt hot. She laughed at herself.

"No, it couldn't be. He's..."

"Rotting in a cage?" Her head snapped to the right of the room to see the man of her nightmares grinning at her. "Hello, Rosa."

"I must still be dreaming." She mumbled, reaching under the blankets to pinch her own leg.

"Afraid not."

"No. This can't be. You can't be here. You were given a life sentence. You would have to be..."

"Dead?"

"How could you be dead?" Claire felt tears building up in her eyes.

"You're the fancy psychic now. Why don't you tell me?" He stood and walked around the bed watching her.

She swallowed hard and her right hand moved up to brush her fingers against her throat.

"Suicide." She whispered.

"Ding ding ding!"

"What is it you want?" She stared at him as he walked to the window and looked out for a moment.

"You should thank me you know."

"Thank you!" She laughed spitefully. "For what, exactly?"

"Well you are famous because of me." He turned to her. "My little Rosa. My biggest accomplishment."

"Is that what you've told yourself all these years? That you made me what I am?"

"Didn't I?"

"I am what I am despite you. My fame is separate from yours."

"Is it?" He turned his head with a cruel smile still on his face. "I think I deserve some credit for what you've become. Or was it not your close call with death that provided you with this talent of yours?"

She was quiet then. She wasn't sure what to say. He was pulling at her strings, pushing through to her biggest fear. Forcing her to ask the question she has avoided all this time.

Did George Birsha create who she is now?

Is she the product of his cruelty?

She didn't know the answer for sure. But for some reason the thought of it, crediting him to who she is now, hurt her a bit. She shook her head.

"I don't know." She sighed. "But I know if you had your way, I would be dead."

"Like the other girls... Andrea, Pam, Tanika. Oh, don't look so sad Rosa or is it Claire now?" George laughed. "You know, you'll always be little Rosa to me."

"Well you're nothing to me. You're dead."

"Yes but the good news is that I have nothing better to do now. So I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Morris walked into the office bright and early. He was surprised to find that Clarissa was not there as she was usually waiting for him with coffee. They had paperwork to finish up from their last case. He knew that she should be in and she did say that she would call him but she hadn't. Morris was quickly becoming worried. But he was always quick to worry.<p>

"Agent Williams, there was a message left for you this morning." A small blonde woman named Cora approached him with a paper in hand. "I was told it's urgent."

"Thank you, Cora." He smiled at her and took the paper from her hand.

His eyes scanned the paper quickly and his face dropped almost instantly.

"Why wasn't I called?" He looked up at her but she had no answer. "I should have been notified sooner."

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" Morris turned to find JJ standing behind him.

"Ah, yes it is. Is there something you needed?"

"I was looking for Clarissa actually. I was hoping I could maybe talk to her?"

"Claire isn't here."

"Well do you know where I can find her? I need to apologize."

"I understand. You have good intentions, however, now is not the best time. I'm sorry I have to go."

"Can I come back another time?" JJ asked as he headed for the exist.

"I'm afraid you'll have to but I don't know when will be a good time." He sighed and rushed out of the building.

* * *

><p>"Did you get to talk to her?" Derek asked as soon as JJ walked through the door.<p>

"No, it was weird. She wasn't there and Morris left as soon as I showed up. He seemed worried about something."

"Maybe it was a family thing?"

"I think it was about Clarissa but he left before I could ask anything."

"Did you hear?" Garcia came rushing up to them.

"Hear what?"

"It's all over the news." Garcia shook her head. "I can't imagine how she must feel right now and it's weird because we were just talking about him, or watching him... Now suddenly he's on the news and..."

"Mama, calm down, what is it?" Derek put both of his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her.

"George Birsha, the man that nearly killed Clarissa, he committed suicide late last night."


End file.
